Improved winch oe capstan



JOHN L. HEALD, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Letters Patent 1Y0. 65,486, dated Jima 4, 186i'.

IMPROVED WINCH 0R GAPSTAN.

@tigt Signals tuant in' it tigris trttcts tuttnt mit noting pitt tt tte stmt To ALL wHoM Ir MAY concurs:

Be it known that I, JOHN L. I-IEALD, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk, and'State of Massachusetts, have invented certain improvements in Winches or Ca-pstans for Ships, and for other purposes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this speciication, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved winch o1' capstan.

Figure 2 is a transverse section on the line a; :v of fic. l.

Ii'igures 3 and 4, sectional details to be referred to.

i In the use of the capstan or wivneh of the ordinary construction the services of a man or boy are required to hold and take up the slack ot' the rope as it is drawn in. To perform this ofce without the services of this attendant is the object of my invention, which consists in a roller which is brought up snugly against the rope 'to be taken in, which on being ied from the drum of the winch around the roller is then conducted down between them; the friction of the roller upon thc rope ser 'ing to take hold of and draw it in in a reliable andv automatic manner'. I

To enable others skilled in the art to understand and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the manner in which I have carried it out.

i In the said drawings, A is the framework, secured to the deck ot" a vessel, Within bearings a., secured to the framework, revolves a shaft, B, to which is keyed, at b, the drum G of the winch or capstan. D is a crankshaft, the outer end of which is provided with a handle, c, while its inner end passes through thc drum C and carries a pinion, E, a recess, CZ, being providedfor its reception. e is'a stop or projection, against which the teeth of the pinion E come in contact when it is required to cause the drum to make but one revolution in common with that of the crank-shaft. The bearing a next to the drum is provided with a hollow circular disk, within which is formed a series of teeth constituting an internal gearing, F, into which the pinion E may be made to engage for a purpose presently to be explained. The outside of the drum O is provided with a series of teeth, f,- into which falls the retaining-pawl G, in order to prevent the drum C from revolving in the direction of the arrow.- 'Ihe shaft B carries a ceg-wheel, H, which engages with a corresponding wheel, I, on a shaft, J, which revolves in bearings g, which are made to slide in dove-tailed ways t, by operating the long arms t' of the levcrs K, which are pivotcd at j to the dove-tailed bearings, the short arms c of. these levers being connected tothe sliding' bearings at l, (see iig. et.) Secured to the shaft J, by means of a key, m, is a roller, L, around which is led the rope M to be drawn in, a number of turns 4of the rope being {irst passed around the drum C of the winch. N is a bar or rack, provided with notches n, under which the long arms t' of the levers K are caught when it is desired to bring them down to press the roller L firmly against the rope in order to insure its being drawn in between the drum and the roller; the long arms z' of these levers being released from the notches n by depressing them slightly and springing them outward by hand. When it is desired to hoist a sail the halyards are `led around the drum C and roller L, and down between them, as represent-ed in fig. 1, when, on the crank being revolved by hand, the slack is gathered up in a ready and convenient manner, the teeth of the pinion E coming in contact with the projection c,'(see iig. 2,) and causing the drum to make one revolution during one revolution of the crank. When the sail is nearly hoisted and required to be stretched taut, the resistance to be overcome increases and the pinion E is instantly thrown into connection with the internal gearing F, (sce Iig. 3.,) the number of teeth in which is about three to one of the pinion, by which construction it requires three revolutions of the/crank to revolve the drum of the winch once, the amount of power expended at the crank, however, being the same in both cases.

The above-described mechanism may be applied to a' number of purposes, for instance, in loading and unloading vessels, in bringing honic" the sheets of sails when set, in heaving in, and in warping around piers. In the lat-ter case, when the vessel suddenly becomes stuck or its motion retarded, the crank-shaft may he instantly thrown in so as to cause its pinion to engage with the internal gearing F, when the advantage derived from the increased purchase or leverage soon overcomes the diiiiculty, and the pinion may be again vdrawn back into gear with the stop or projection e. It is obvious that the position of the parts may be changed somewhat, if desired, viz, the shafts B J' may be supported iu a. vertical position within any suitable framework, and thus serve the purpose of o ships capstan without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Claim.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A roller, L, when employed in connection with the drum C, of' a winch or capstan, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

I also claim supporting the shaft of the roller L in sliding bearings 7L, operated by levers K, or their equivalents, substantially in the manner and for the purpose described.

I also claim the internal gearing F, in combination with the pinion E, on the crank-shaft D, for reducing the speed of thev revolution of the drum C of the wineli iis and for the purpose specified.

I also claim, in combination with the above, the gears H'I for insuring the simultaneous revolution of the ,shafts B J, substantially as set forth.

JOHN L. HEALD. Witnesses P. E. TusoHEMAonur., N. W. STEARNS. 

